1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bis(4-demethoxydaunorubicin)dihydrazones and the pharmacologically acceptable salts thereof which are potent inhibitors of neoplastic disease and also possess antiviral utility.
2. Description of the Prior Art
AACR Abstracts #675 dated March, 1978 describes the use of bis-daunorubicins linked through their C-13 ketones by aminodicarboxylic acid hydrazides as inhibitors of forward transcription (E. coli RNA polymerase) or reverse transcription (RSV virus) and as inhibitors of P388 leukemia in mice.
The compounds of the present invention are structurally distinct from the compounds of AARC Abstract #675 in that they do not have the methoxy group at C-4 of the daunomycinone substituent. Compounds lacking the C-4 methoxy are more potent and more effective than those reported in AACR Abstract #675.